•
SPEECH
OF
l\IR. M. P. GENTRY, . OF TENN.,
l:JPON THE JtESOLUTitlN TO REFER SO MUCH OF THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
AS RELATES TO
N"AR,
THE MEXICAN
TO THE COMMITrrEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS.
;
Delivered in the House ef Representatives of the U. States, De;. 16, 1846.
The House, in Committee of the Whole, hnving under consideration the proposition to refer the President's Message to the different committees-
Mr. GENTRY, of Tennessee, rose and said:
Mr. CH.AIRMAN: When I read the message of the President of the United
States, communicated to Congress at the beginning of the present session, and
saw that he had descended from the dignity of his high station, and violated its
proprieties so far as lo assume , that to question the constitutionality, wisdom, justice,
or prudence, of his conduct in originating and prosecuting the war with Mexico,
was to "adhere to the cause of the enemy, and thus give him ai<l and comfort,"
I determined, at some suitable period, when a tnngible question was before the
House, to give my .views somewhat at large upon that subject. Lest I should be
suspected of being alarmed into silence, I speak now to show I nm not afraid to
speak. These are terms which the Constitution employs to define treason~ and~
in my opinion, the President, in fulminnting that denunciation, imputes that
crime to a mt~ority of the people of the Unit d Stat . I m on of ho
vho
believe that the war was brought about by the President-by a violation of the
Constitution-for the purpose of conquest, and that it has been prosecuted by him
with a view to that end. Entertaining these opinions, I feel it to be my duty,
under existing circumstances, to give utterance to the convictions of my mind.
The imputation which the President has thought prbper to make, in his official communication to Congress, was echoed and re-echoed ,-upon this floor, by his liegemen
yesterday, in a way which raises a 8trong presumption that there is a concerted purpase to frighten us, with~ storm of denunciatiou, from the independent disc~arge
of our duties as representatives of the pc9ple. We are called upon to assert our nghts,
or basely succumb to Executive intimidation. Our moral courage, as well as our
J,
~
G. S. Gideon, pnnter11-
2
patriotism, are thus put upon trial. I choose, therefore, to speak now, although
unprepared for the debate, merely to exhibit my defiance of these denunciations,
and express the contempt in which I hold them. I choose to prese~t myself as a
mark for them-to offer myself as a victim, if indeed it be in the power of the
President, and the remorseless majority which sustains him, to victimize those
ho claim to maintain freedom of thought and freedom of speech, rights "dear
to freemen, and formidable only to tyrants and usurpers." I speak to announc.e
my opinions upon the subject of the Mexican war, and assume all the responsibility which ought to attach to the maintenance of such opinions. When the nation is engaged in a constitutional war, waged for constitutional purposes, I would
deem it proper to waive all discussion as to the propriety of beginning the war,
and, by united and harmonious efforts, bring the war to an honorable conclusion;
and then bold the public functionaries to a proper account~ But this Mexican
\ r is of a character, as I will endeavor to show, which ought to make it an exception to this general rule. "Our country, right or wrong," is a noble and patriotic sentiment, when rightl understood and properly applied. ILis most grossly misapplied, when it is used,as a sanction for the principle that a patriotic devo· ,
·
·
to the President. On
tion to the country implies, "TI~
the contrary, a state of things may arise-in my opinion, ias ansen-w ie , o
be true to the country, patriotism demands opposition to the . President. Yes, sir,
I contend that we may be loyally and faithfully devoted to our country, and yet
opposed to its President. But gentlemen have proceeded in this debate upon the
assumption t\"6.t the President of the United States is the Government of the United States, which is an assumption utterly at war with the Constittrtion, and of
most dangerous tendency. They have read copious extracts from the Law of Natjons, defining the rights of belligerent governments, t<;> prove that the President
has not been guilty of lawless usurpation in overrunning, with the armies of the
United States, vast territories-organizing therein civil governments-absolving the
citizens thereof from their previous allegiance-declaring them,' by proclamation,
citizens of the U. States; nnd, by the same summary process, annexing the territories thus conquered to the United States. The Law of Nations is but a set of rules or
maxim~, to which nations, by their ac.quiescence, have given binding force.
Many, mdeed most of these rules or maxnns, had an existence before the Government of the United States existed; and, in so far as they define the rights and
powers o~ the chief rulers of. nations; th.ey apply, for the most part, to monarchies
or despotisms, whose sovereignty rests ma single-tnalvi<lual. The Gov,ernment
of the United States is a Republican Government, the po~
by a written Constitution. That Constitution, and the laws made in pursuance
thereof, confer upon the President all the power whicli he possesses, He does
not embo<l the soverei nty of the United States. He is not, as gentlemen would
see~, from t eir cone usious in his debate, to assume, the Government '<f the
United ~tates. Therefore, the public law which defines the powers and rights of
i~on~rclncal rulers., when engaged in war~ do not apply to the President of this cons11tut1.onal Republic. Justly to claim and exercise such powers and rights, he must
act wit~ th~ sanction, and under the authority , of the Congress of the United States,
the leg1slat1ve branch of the Government. He has audaciously assumed thus to
act, without the sanction or authority of Congress. He has, by his own acts, as
I will presently show, involved the nation in war; whereas for wise reasons, the
_power of declaring war is vested, by the Constitution, in Congress; and he has
iirosecuted that war for purposes not sanctioned or authorized by Congress. He
1s, therefore, in the fullest sense of the term, a lawless usurper. Yet, in view of
these palpable truths) men, forgetting that there are higher and more sacred obliga-
tions than mere party allegiance can impose, stand up here, in this Hall, consecrated ,
to liberty, and justify and defend these flagrant usurpation~, arguing that the President is the Government, claiming for him the power of an absolute monarch, arid
joining with him in denouncing those who protest against his usurpations as advocati9g and adhering to the cause of the enemy, and thus giving him aid and comfort. Although, when, by the act of the Presiuent, a collision bad been brought
about between, the army of the United States and that of Mexico, we voted, on
this side of the House, with remarkable unanimity, for a bill authorizing the President to receive 50,000 volunteers, and appropriating ten millions of dollars; although, when he calleu for volunteers, the Whigs rallied by thousands around the
standard of their country, conscious that none of the honors of the war would be
eonferreu upon them; althoug·h a large majority of the officers of the regular
army and navy-your commanuers, by sea and land, are Whigs; although they
have, in obedience to the commands of the President, bnwecl danger and death
in every possible form; and done all that brave men could do to uphold the honor
of the nation; although thousands of them have died in battle, or by the diseases '
of that climate into which tl'iey were prematurely marched by hi::; orders; yet, be<:ause we will not fall down and worship him; bewuse we will not crouch, wilh
spaniel-like humility, at his feet, and whfoe an approval of all his acts, we are met,
at the beginning of the session of Congress, with the grateful compliment from the
President that we are traitors to our country; and bis liegemen on this floor catch
up the foul and false imputation, and echo and re-echo it through these halls.
It would seern that those who would win the commendation of thc.,President and
bis supporters, must rely upon deeds of mean servility, rather tlrnn deeds of patriotism. 'I' hey must serve the President, instead of the country. They m nst conform to
that maxim of monarchical loyalty which affirms that " the King can do no wrong."
If they dare to express a doubt of executive infallibility, they must expect to encoun~
ter the thunders of executive vengeance. 1'his is the state of things to which we
are required to conform ourselves. Let those whose servil ily of soul qualifies them
for a task so mean, go and tru~le to the Presideut. On this side of the House
we think we have higher dutie~ perform, and a nobler destiny to fulfil. One of
those duties is to enquire how it happens that the United States are at war with
Mexico? By whose act that war has been brought abom? Por what purpose is it
waged? Is it to conquer a peace? What are to be the conditions of that peace?
How much of Mexican territory does the President intend to annex permanently
to the United States? ·will Congress sanction such annexations? What are to be
the consequences o( the war? How will it. affect the union of these States and the
destiny of this Republic? How many million::< of public debt will it impose? 'l'hese
are high and grn\'e questions, which the free representatives of a free people must
enquire into. To speak ut fearlessly upon these questions is the imperative duty
-0f the representatives of freemen; an to act firm! y: wise I y, and patriotically, so as
to put a limit to executive discretion and'nsurpation, is a duty which they are bound
to discharge. And he who will shrink from its performance, is better qualified to
be the slave of an Asiatic despot, than to be a Representative in the Congress of
• this free Republic>.
.
I hol<l it to be the duty of Congress, so long as the army of the Republic is in
the fiel<l by the sanction of the Government, to do all that is necessary to sustain
it that its victories may maintain the glory of the national arms. But it is a yet higher
~d more sacred duty to.guard and preserve with sleepless vigilance the Constitution of the Republic . I repeat, that we may be loyal to our country and yet op·
cse its President, whose ambitious schemes, whose lawless usu rpations, may make
a more dangerous enemy to public liberty, than an h u ndred well appointed
Eim
4
fovading armies; for these ~vould be met on ever}'. plain, at ev~ry mo~1tni'? p~ss ,.
and driven back from our borders. But v>ho will restore to us our Gonst1tut10n
and liberty, when they ::hall be wrested from us? History tells of nations that have
been free, and that have lost their freedom; but it tells us also of exertions and
privations-of noble deeds of daring, in resisti~g the enc1:oachment~ of tyranny.; it
tells us that they were enslaved only when might prern1led over nght-;-nurnbers
over valor and patriotism. Shall we, the descendants of the Whig pat.nots of the
.American Revolution, tamely and silently yield up the Constitution of our country,
the guaranty of our liberty, to be violated arid \rampled upon by a petty usurp~r ,.
whose nomination for the Presidenpy was a political aCC'ident, which was met with
sneers of contempt by the most distinguished men of his own party; and who, being
President, possesses not the high qualities, either of head or heart , to command the
real respect of the meanest minion that shouts in his train? No, sir; no. We
would dishorrnr the glorious name which constitutes our designation as a poiitical
party if we were thus to act. Our veneration for our fathers, our duty to ourselves.
and posterity, our devotion to liberty, every glorious recollection of the past, every
high hope of the future, forbid a course of conduct so unpa1riot1c, so inglorious.
In defiance of calumnies and denunciations from whatsoever quarter they may·
come, we will struggle to maintain the rights of the le ·~ · e b anch of the Gov-ernment, and resist the encroaclilnents and usurpations of the Executive.
"'
will to the utmost of our power uphold the Constitution of our country, which we
contend has been violated by the President, in making war of his own will, by his
own acts, with.out the authority or advisement of Congress, upon which alone the
Constitution confers the power of declaring war. The message of the President,.
which dwells so much at length on this subject, whilst it may deceive superficial
observers, cannot but be regarded by all sensible·and unprejudiced rninds as a "plea
of guilty" to this charge. He presents in formidable array a long list of injuries
and insults, running back to the beginning of the existence of Mexico as an inde-pendent nation, as if these constituted the cause of the present war. These outrages were perpetrated, when there were men at t head of this Gov~rnment quite
as sensitive of the national honor, and quite as c r1petent ~o maintain its dignity
and rights, as himself. ·w hy did they not recommend a declaration of war? They
were lovers of peace; they chose to negotiate with Mexico for a peaceful adjustment of these ditiiculties. Their efforts were successful. In 1839. Mexico entered
into a trea1.y with tl:e .ll~ited Stat~s, by which she agreed to make reparation for
all the wrongs and in,1ur1es of which we had complained.. This treaty was afterwards, in 1843, modified in some respects; and it is a fact}{
to the whole
world, that the Mexican Government was making extraordinary efforts-r sorting
even to the extreme measme of forced loans-to comply with the stipulations of
that treaty; and that Government did not cease thus to exer itself to maintain its faith
!nviolnte, until the friendly rela{ions between the two Governments were disturbed
by circumstances connected with t.he annexation of Texas. Since then, Mexico
has ceased to make payments, accor<ling to the stipulations of the treaty. \Vby
does the P1esident go behind this treaty to find causes for the exis1in"" war? It is to
mystify tbe public mind, nncl divert it from a discovery of the 1ru: causes of the
war, and of himself as ,the author of it. The President knows that his conduct
cannot be justified, unless he can make it appear 1bat the Rio Bravo dcl Norte (or
Rio Grande) was the established bounJary between Mexico and Texas, previous
to the a11uexatio11 of the latter to the United States. 'rhe awurnents and facts
which he employs.for tliis purpose are disgracefully" absurd anlinsignificant, and
can produce no cllect upon men of sense, but to iuspire a feelinO' of contempt for
bim who could embody such stuff in a grave state paper.
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5
This part of his message is but an effort, by an artful perversion of truth-a dis.ingenuous statement of facts-to make the people " bel.ieve a lie." fI e tells
us that Santa Ana, in 1836, signed a treaty, which recognised and established the Rio Grande as the boundary between Mexico and Texas. When Santa
Ana signed that treaty he was in duresse-a prisoner of war-and believed himself in uanger of losing his life. 'I'here is no principle of public law better settled,
than that a treaty signed under such circumsta11ces, even by an absolute monarch,
would be invalid and of no effect. But if this were not true, it is obv10us, from
the terms of that treaty, that its ratification by the Mexican Government was admitted, by the parties to it, to be necessary to make it binding. 'I'he Mexican
Government promptly rejected it. It is, therefore, invalid-dead-it is no treaty.
Is it not a shame, that the President of the United States will insult the intelligence
of Congress, and the American peQPle, by referring to such a fact as proof that the
Rio Grande was the established boundary between Mexico and Texas? He tells
us fm'.tber, that "'I'exas, as ceded to the United States by F'rance in 1803, has
' . been always claimed as extending to the Rio Grande; that the Texas, which was
ceded to Spain by the Florida treaty of 1819, embrnced all the country no.w claimed
. by the State of 'l'exas between the Nueces and the Rio Grande." Why are these
facts paraded before Congress and the nation? The 'I'exas, whose boundaries are
now the subjeet of discussion, is not the Texas which was claimed by Frnnce before the Louisiana tleaty; nor the Texas which was claimed by t.he United States
after that treaty; nor the 'I'exas which was ceded by the United States to Spain
by the Florida treaty; nor the Texas which existed as a province of Spain after
that treaty; nor yet the Texas which constituted a part of the republic of Mexico,
. !:lfter that republic had declared and established its independence of Spain; but it
is the Texas which arose in rebellion against Mexico in 1835, and which, declarin<T itself independent of that Government, appealed to the sword to make good
th~t declaration. Her boundaries are determined by the limits of ·the territory
which she conquered of Mexico, and over which she extended the jurisdiction of
her Government and laws; and when the President writes in his message so much
at length about the bounda1;y,of any pre-existing 'I'exas, he attenipts to mislead
the public min<l by evading the true issue, the determination of which decides the
question, whether the President., by ordering the army of the Unit.eel States to advance from Corpus Christi to' the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, and construct
there fortifications, and mount cannon pointing into the town, did an act which
involved this republic unconstitutionally in a war with Mexico? If Texas, previous to her annexation to the United States, had established the jmisdiction of
her government and laws to the Rio Grande, the President stands acquitted of violating the Constitution, though the prudence and wisdom of ordering the army to
take position opposite Matamoras, under the circumstances which then existed,
might still be questioned. But if, on the other band, 'Texas hnd not, previous to
her annexation, e8tablished the jurisdiction of her government and laws to th e Rio
Grande, the sophistry and disingenuousness of the President, and all his supporters cannot redeem him from the irnputntion of involving the nation in war, by an
act' of usurpation-by a violation of the Constitution. 'l'his is the true issue; and
it is an issue to which Mexico is not a party, as gentlemen falsely assume. It is a
domestic issne between the President of the United States and the American people and their representatives, whose highest duty it is to hold their President; at all
tim~s, to a strict accountability, and take care of the public liberty by preserving
the Constitution inviolate. Was the Rio Grande the established boundary between
. Texas and Mexico, when the former annexed itself to the United States? 'l'h~
President seems to be aware of the necessity of making· it so appear. He knows-
6
he must know-that if be cannot make that appear to be true, he will stand condemned by th e judgment of the nation for a violation of the Constitution; for all
the evil, for all the blood and treasure, in short, for all the cont:equences of this
war. He says, in his message, "the Congress of 'I'exas, on the 19th of December, 1836, passed an act to define the boundari es of the repNblic of Texas, in which
they declared the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source, to be their boundary;
and by the said act they extended their civil and political .i urisdiction over the territory and inhabitants west of the Nueces;" and, after referring to various other
nets 9f the Texan Congress, by which (upon paper) it extended jurisdiction to
the Rio Grande, he proceeds to say, "this was the Texas, which, by the act of
our Congress of the twenty-ninth of December, 1845, was admitted as one of the
States of our Union." Here the President intends, doubtless, to be understood as
asserting that the Rio Grande was the established boundary of Texas when she
was admitted as a State of this Union. I deny that assertion, and will proceed to
disprove it by irrefragable facts. Certainly, such was not the fact when Congress
passed the resolution which authorized Texas to annex herself lo the Union. Mark ,.
if you please,. sir, the language of the resolution, and you will perceive clearly that
the question of boundary was carefully reserved to be settled between the Government of the United Stales and Mexico . I read from the resolution of Congress.
Resolve£! by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Jlmerica in Congress assembled.That Congress doth consent that the territory properly included within, a1i'ir-righrfu1lyb'elm!gi:tigt0,1he
republic of Texas, may be erected into a new State, to be called the State of Texas, with a republican
form of government, to be adopted by the people of said republic, by deputies in convention assembled,
with the consent of the existing government, in order that the same may be admitted as one of the States.
cf this Union.
.
2. Jlnd be it further 1·esolved, That the foregoing consent of Congress is given upon the following condi-tion~, and with the following guarantees, to wit: First, said State to be fqrmed, S'libject to the adjustment b!j
this Government of all q11esti-Ons of binm4ary that may arise with other Got>ernments.
Now, sir, I ask, if any man will pretend to 13ay that this resol ution would have
been thus worded, if Congress had understood the Rio Grande to be the established bo1:10dary between Texas and Mexico? Could a resolution have passed which
assumed that to be the boundary? Does not the phraseology of the resolution
dearly imply that it was the opinion of Congress, at there was a strip of disputed
territory-an undefined bounelary, between Mexico and 1'exas; and that to avoid war
with Mexico, as a consequence of the annexation of, Texas, it was wise and prudent
to reserve to the Government of the United States the right to settle that question of ,
boundary, peacefully, by negotiation? Certainly these conclusions are clearly deducible from the resolution, and from concurrent facts of that period , which now·
constitute a part of the history of the times. Mr. Ohactes Jared Ingersoll, chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, reported from tha~i
he resolution of annexation; and during the debate which occurred upon that sub3ect in·
this House he said" The stupendous deserts between the Nueces and the Bravo [the rtio Grande or Del Norte] rivers,.
are lne natural boundaries between lhe Anglo-Saxon trna the Mauritanian races. There ends the valley
-0f ~he west.. There Mexico beg.ins. Thence, beyond the Bravo, begin the Moorish people and their
Jndum associates, to whom Mexico properly belongs; who should not cross that vast desert if they could,
as on our side we too ought to stop there; because mterminLlble conflicts must ensue from either our go-·
fog south or their co1~iug nort!1.of that gigantic bound_ary. While pea~e is cherished, that bound~ry­
w11! be sacred. Not till the spmt of conquest rages, will the people on either side molest or mix w1tn
each other; and, whenever they do, one or the other race must be conquered, if not extinguished."
Mark the language, Mr. Chairman, and ponder upon it. Is it (in the language
-0f the honora_ble gentleman) because '.'the spirit of. conquest rages," that we have
crossed that lme? I propose to exam me that question presently .
. Senator AsBL_EY, of Arkans~s, whe.n the sub.iect was before the Senate, speakrog upon resolutions of annexation which he had submitted, said:
'
..,
"The third speaks for itself, and enables the United States to settle the boundary between Mexico and
the United States properly. And I will here add, that the present boundaries of Texas, I learn from
Judge Ellis, the president of the convention that formed the constitution of Texas, and also a member of
' the first L egislature under that constitution, were fixed as they now are, [that is, extending to the Rio
Grande,) solely and professedly with a V'iew of having a large rrutrgin in the negotirltion with .Mexico, and
not with the expectation of retaining them as they now exist in their statute book."
During the administration of Mr. Tyler, J. 0. Calhoun being Secretary of
State, a treaty was entered into between the United States and Texas, by which
Texas was annexed to the United States. The Senate rejected the treaty, but not
until after a debate, in which all the distinguished men of that body participated.
Between the time when that treaty was rej ected by the Senate, and the adoption,
by Congress, of the resolution of annexation, nothing had occurred to change the
relative posit.ion of Mexico and Texas with respect to boundaries. During the
debate in the Senate to which I have referred, Mr. Benton made a speech, from
which I extract as follows:
"The President, in his special message of W cdnesday last, imforms us that we have acquired a title to
the ceded territories by his signature to the treaty, wanting only the action of th,e Senate to perfect it;
and that, in the mean time, he will protect it from invasion, and for that purpose has detached all the disposable portions of the army and navy to the scene of action. This is a caper about equal to the mad
freaks with which the unfortunate Emperor Paul, of Russia, WllB accustomed to astonish Europe about
forty years ago, By this declaration, tho thirty thousand Mexicans in the left l1a1f of the vulJey of the
Rio del Norte are our citizens, and standing, in the language of the P1·esident's message, in a hostile attitude towards us, and subject to be repelled as invaders. Taos, the seat of the custom-house where our
caravans enter their goods, is ours. Sa11ta Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is ours. Governor Armijo
is our Governor, and subject to be tried for treason if he does not submit to us. Twenty Mexican towns
and v~ages are ours, and (heir peaceful inhabitants, cultivating their fields and tending their flocks, are
suddenly converted, by a stroke of the President's pen, into American citizens or American rebels.
This is too bad, and instead of making themselves party to its enormities, as the President invites them
to do, I think rather that it is the duty of the Senato to wash its hands of all this part of the transaction,
by a special disapprobation. The Senate is the constitutional adviser of the President, and has the right,
if not the duly, to give him advice when the occasion requires it. I therefore propose, as an additional
resolution, ar!J!iablc to the Rio del Norte boundary only, the one which I will J"ead and send to the
· Secretary's ta )Je ; and on which, at the proper time, I shall ask the vote of the Senate. This is the
resolution:
"Resolvecl, That the incorporation of the left bank of the Rio de! Norte into the American Union, by
virtue of a treaty with Texas, comprehending, as the said incorporation would do, a part of the Mexican departments of New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, would be an act of direct aggression on Mexico, for all the consequences of whi.ch the United States would stand responsible."
And in another speech, which he made upon a bi!Cwhich he introduced provid·
ing for the annexation of Texas, he spoke as follows:
"Rising as Mr. McDuFFIE concluded, and takino- up the last words of his speech, Mr. BENTON exclaimed: But with this great difference ! this great difference! that my bill refers the question of war to
Congress! where all questious of war belong; and the negotiatorn of this treaty made war themselves!
They, the President and his Secretary of State, made the war themselves, and made it unconstitutionally, perfidiously, clandestinely, and piratically. The secret orders to our army and navy were piratical,
for they were without law, to waylay and attack a frietidly power, with wl1om we have a treaty of
amity; and, ns a member of a courtmartial, I would sentence to be shot nny officer of the army or navy
who should dare to attack Mexican troops, or ships, or cities, under that order."
After the treaty had been signed by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of State, wrote a letter to Mr. Green, our charge
at Mexico, from which I extract as follows:
"A treaty for the annexation of Texas to the United States has been signed by the plenipotentiaries
of the two Governments, and will be sent by the President to the Senate for approval.
"In muking the fact known to the Mexican Government, the President enjoins it upon you to give it,
in the first place, the strongest assurance, that in adopting this measure, om· Governmmt is actuated Qy no
feelings of disrespect or indUJ'erence to the honor or dignity of .Mexico, ancl thal ~ would be a subject of great
regret if it 3hould ~e otherwise regarcled b!J. Us Government.
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"
"
.".
. " .
"You are enjomed also, by the President, to ruisure the M exican Government, that it 1s his desire to
sattle all quest.ions between the two countries which may grow out of this treaty, or any other cause,
ON TH!t MOST LIBERAL ANO SATISFACTORY TERM!i 7 INCLUDING THAT OF BOUNDARY j AND WITH THAT VIEW,
Tll'E WNISTER, WHO llAS Jlli!EN RECENTLY APl'OUlT&D, WILL BE SllOR'fLY SENT WITH ADEQUATE POWE Rs , >i
..
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After speaking further in a strain of apology to Mexico, Mr. Calhoun proceeds
to say:·
"But while it (the Government of the United States) could not, with a due regard. to the.safety of the
Union, do that, it has taken every precaution to mnke the terms of t~1c treaty ~s ht;le object1onable to
Mexico as possible; and, among others, has left the boundary of Texas w!:fhout specification, so thaf: what the
line of bo1mdm-y slumld be might be all open question, to be fizil-ly ""d fully d.scussed and settled, accord mg to tltt
rights of each-the mutual interests and secm~ty of the two countries."
Mr. Chairman, I might proceed to multiply innumerably, proofs equally conclusive upon the point which lam discussing, to establish the position that, when the
Government of the United States authorized the annexation of T exas to this
Union, it decided that the boundary of Texas was indetermtnate aud undefined; and
that 'rexns had not, as the President tries to prove, established her jurisdiction to
the Rio Grande. Even the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. S1mno.N,) who argued
with so much ability td justify the President, with a truth and candor which commands my respect, admitted this point. He says:
"But a small portion of it-the country south of the Nueces and near the mouth of the Rio Grandehad been under the actual dominion of Texas, lay contiguous to her settlements, or had been inhabited
by citizens acknowledging her Jaws. That portion might be readily brought under her jurisdiction, and
its inhabitants recognised as citizens; and accordingly we find it left by our commanders to the control
of Texan authorities, and to the governance of her laws. No provis10nal government was established there by military authority. The residue of the extensive disputed territory was far otherwi•ic situated. Remote, separated from the settled portion of Texas by immense wastes, or rugged mountain
ranges, in the actual possession of Mexican authorities, and, so far as inhabited at all, peopled by enemies, who did not admit the sovereignty of Texas, and would not submit to her laws.''
And my colleague, (Mr. STANTON,) whose personal and political partialities impel him strongly to sustain the President, could not bring himself to maintain that
Texas bad extended h<:;r jurisdiction to the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source;
but he tries to draw a dii:;tinction, which is not made in the argument of the President, between the upper and lower Rio Grande; and my colleague, (Mr. JoHNsoN,) in his speech of yesterday, made the same admission. He sai(l: "The
Texas boundary had been left an open question. What were the necessary steps
to be taken ? Negotiation ar.d peaceful overt mes; and these measures were taken.
But Mexico refused · all o\·ertures. She refused to negotiate. What position was
this Government then bound to maintain? Why, of course, to observe and to
maintain the boundary as defined by the Government annexing herself to the United
States; and that obligation the Government did fulfil." Admitting, for the sake
of the argument, that the Government of the United States was bound to observe
and maintain the boundary designated by my colleague, it does not follow that the
President could rightfully and constitutionally do that which the Government was
alone competent to do. I repeat, that the President is not the Government.
Congress, by the terms of the resolution which authorized tbe annexation of
Texas, in effect declared, that there was a strip o( territory between Mexico and
Texm; which was the subject of dispute between those Governments; that the
boundary between them w:is undefined-not established. And Congress prescribed it as a condition to the annexation of T x:a that the Government of the Unitd
States should have the right to sellle that dispute--define and establish that boundary. 'l'here were two modes by which this could have been constitutionally effected. By a treaty with Mexico, negotiated by the President, and ratified by a
majority of two-thirds of the Senate; or, by the sword-by war-by a formal
and constitutional declaration of war, which can only be made by the Congress of
the United States. The President, as my colleague remarked, resorted to negotiation, which failed. Why did he not then recommend to Congress a declaration
of war? I am not the apologist of Mexico, nor do I believe that the Government
of the United States was bound by any obligation of justice to maintain for a teml
9
years, an army of observation on the border, waiting for Mexico to make war
or make peace; and if the President, after failing to settle by negotiation the diffi- ,
culties between the two Governments, had recommended a declaration of war, I
am not prepared to say that I would not have voted for it. I believe I would
have voted for it, or for a resolution declaring and establishing the boundary between Mexico and the United States. But the President did not choose to take
this constitutional comse; he resorted to a more summary mode of settling the
difficulty. Congress had reserved to the Government of the United States the
right of settling the question of boundary; the President determined to settle it
himself. With the exception of a small settlement (embracing Corpus Christi)
which had co-cperated with Texas in her struggle for independence, Texas had
never extended her jurisdiction beyond the Nueces. The army of the United
States was posted at Corpus Christi. The President, with:rnt the sanction of
Congress, ordered it to advance across the disputed territory, and take p6sition
upon its extreme verge on the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, a distance of
one hundred and fifty miles from Corpus Christi; and as General Taylor advanced he fouud the- Mexicans in the quiet possession of their homes, and in
the language of Mr. Benton, c: cultivating their fields, and tending their flocks ;"
and protesting through their public authorities against the invasion of their
.c-0untry. 'rhis was an act of war-an act tending to produce war-an act
which dicl produce war. It was an act which resulted in a practical evasion of the Constitution, which confers upon Congress only the power to declare war. Thus, by an act of usurpation, by a positive and palpable violation of
the Constitution, the President has im'olved the nation in war; and we) the representatives of the peopie, charged, from the nature of our functions, especially
wi~h the duty of guarding the Constitution, are called upon to approve or denounce
- his conduct. In my opinion it would, indeed, be "moral treason" not to denounce it-treason to the Constitution-treason to the cause of liberty. But it is
argued on the other side of the House, that those of us on this side who voted for
· the bill which recognised the existence of war with Mexico, appropriated ten millions of dollars, and authorized the President to receive the services of fifty thou. sand volunteers, are estopped by that vote from censuring or denouncing the Pre·
eident for his conduct in originating the war, or for the manner and motive
of its prosecution by him. This House remembers, and the country remembers, the_ circumstances urnler which lhat vote was extorted from this side of
the House by a remorseless and inexoiable majority. News had arrived that the
Mexicans had crossed the Rio Grande in strong force, vastly su'Perior in numbers
to the little army of our Government, commanded by General Taylor, and that
this superior force had surrounded General Taylor, who, with supplies of provisions only sufficient to last him a few days, was fortifying opposite Matamoras.
Under these circumstances a bill was introduced here, with a preamble prefixed to
it, setting forth that "whereas war existed by the act of Mexico," &c., &c., appropriated ten millions of dollars, and authorized the President to receive into the
service of the United States fifty thousand volunteers. After unavailing efforts to
strike out the preamble, the previous question was moved and seconded by the
majority; and, without being allowed a word of debate, we were forced to vote on
the bill in the form which I have described. Not choosing to be placed before the
country in the position of refusing supplies_of men cmd money to rescue our gal- •
lant army from its perilous position, we voted for the bill, protesting against the
preamble_, and declaring the belief that it asserted a falsehood. 'l'he Constitution
confers upon Congress the power to declare war, but this war was recognised, not
declared. This plain statement of well known and incoutrovertible ~cts will
<if
10
satisfy every unprejudiced mind that, on ·this side of the House, we acted under
the pressure of a state of circu~nsta~ces which !eft U!:'J nothing like free volition;
we were forced to vote for the bill with the preamble, or refuse supplies of men
and money to rescue the army. rrhis is a sufficient answer to those who argue ,
that because, under these circumstances, we voted for the bill, we are precluded
from the right and duty of holding the President to account for originating the
war, by a violation of the Constitution, and for prosecuting it for purposes which
have not been sanctioned by the Congress or people of the United States. 1'he
President, i_n his message, says, " the war has•not been waged with a view to conquest."
Mr. Chairman, I do not believe this declaration of the President of the United
States; and I feel it to be my duty to express my disbelief unequivocally. If
any one thinks that, in making this declaration, I am withholding the proper deference and respect which ought to be extended to the Chief Magistrate of the
nation, I hope l will be excused when I present the array of facts which, in my r
opinion, justifies my distrust of his sincerity ; and if these should fail to plead
, my acquittal, I am sure I will be pardoned fo r my doubts, when I refer to another
important tran~action in whi<fh t~e President bore rather a conspicuous p~1t. 1
allude to the difficulty between this Government and England upon the subJect of
the Oregon territory.
Every member of this House will remember the vehement earnestness with
which the President, in his message at the beginning of the last session of Congress, asserted the right of this Governrnent to the whole of Oregon, and the determination of the Executive branch of the Government, to maintain that ·right.
He recommended Congress to adopt measures in conformity with his views, and
his partizans denounced those who faltered or heEitated as wanting in patriot.ism.
Distinguished members of this House and the Senate, thus assured by the President, zealously took position with him for the "whole of Oregon or none."
During the session, and, as I suppose, after it had been satisfactorily ascertained
that England was willing to adjust the contFOversy upon the basis of the 49th parallel of latitude, a Democratic Senator from the State of North Carolina, (Mr .
HAYWOOD,) ro~e in his place, and gave an exposition of his views of the President's position, which was in direct conflict with the idea that it.he President intended to insist upon the extreme claim put forth in his message ; for he gave the
Senate very clearly to understand, that the President was willing to compromise·
upon the 49th parallel of latitude.
Every memb~r who hears me will remember the indignant reply of the Senator
from Indiana (Mr. HANNEGAN); when referring to the suggestion made by Mr.
HAYWOOD, that the President was willing to compromise upon the 49th parallel,.
he said, that if such was the fact, the President talked with a forked tongue, and
would be damned to an infamy so deep that the hand of resurrection could never
reach him; and, all will remember, that it was a common, an universal rumor, in
this city, believed by all, and contradicted by none, that the Secretary of State,
(Mr. BucHANAN ,) only a few weeks before the proposition of the British Government was submitted to the Senate for its advice, said to a Senator who had taken
position with the Administration for the w!tole. of Oregon, that he "'.ould sooner
lose his riuht arm than sigm 11. treaty comprom1srng the controversy wllh England
upon the parallel of the 49th degree. of latitude ; and every body knows that the
540 40' men were constantly assured, and reassured, that the Administration was
with them, and would make common cause, and stand or fall with them, in contendiug for the whole of Oregon up to 54° 40' of north latitude. But the British
Govenrnlent submitted to our Government a proposition to make th e 49th degtee
•..
11
of latitude the boundary between that Govemment and the United States in Oregon. What did the Administration do? The President, in order to maintain a
show of consistency, sent the proposition to the Senate, with a message, in which:
he said, in substance, that if left to his own volition he would not accept the pn>position of England; but that, upon a question of so mui::.h importance, he felt
bound to ask tbe advice of t!: e Senate. He knew that the Senate would advise
the acceptance of the proposition ; for, it was a well known fact, that a majority of
more than two-thirds of that body were in favor of adjusting the difficulty upon
the basis of the 49th degree of latitude. Thus the Pr'!sident and his Administration attempted to escape from the imputation of insincerity and double dealing .
rrhus he sought to shield himself from the resentment of those of his own friends
whom he had encouraged to take an extreme position, and ~hom he had faithlessly abandoned. Subsequent to these events, Mr. McLANE, who was our
mmister at the Court of St. James, returned home, and on being welcomed by
his friends, responded in· an address, from which I make extracts, as follows:
"I certainly could not have been induced to return to political life, as the representative of my country
abroad, unless l had been persuaded that, in the crisis to which you have referred, the views of my own
Government had been entirely consistent with such a settlement of the Oregon question as ought to have
secured an honorable p~ace, and unless I had entertained the hope that.I might be enabled in some degrw,
to co-operate to that end."
I
And again:
"Having some knowledge, from my official position at that time, of the policy and objects of the convention of 1828, I am quite persuaded that its main design was to lead, in a future partition of the terri- tory, to the recognition of our claim to the country, not north, but south of the 49th parallel, and between
that and the Columbia river. A division of the country upon that principle, with a reasonable regard to
rights grown up under the joint possession, always appeared to me to afford a just and practical basis for
an amicable and honorable adjustment of the subject. Such, also, I was satisfied, were the views of our
Government at the time I engaged in my recent mission; and, in earnestly and steadily laboring to effect
a settlement on that basis, I was lmt representing the policy of my own Government, andjciithfully pro•noting
the intentions and wishes of the President."
Thus, it appears conclusively; that when the President was encouraging distinguished men of his own party to stake their reputation before the country upon
the issue of 54° 40'-" the whole of Oregon or none "-he had many months before instructed Mr. McLane to agree to a settlement of the Oregon controversy upon
the basis of the 49th parallel o.f latitude. In view of such facts, may I not hopeto be.;ardoned, forlooking to the acts of the President, rather than to his declarations, for a discovery of his motives in prosecuting this war with Mexico? And
here, before I go further into this enquiry, I must express my profound regret that
the instructions of Mr. Slide! are not before this House . . What was the character of those instructions? I venture the opinion, with undoubting confidence·
]n its correctness, that he recei\•ed no instructions from the President which
1 authorized him to make a treaty with Mexico, which did not provide for thecession to this Government of the Californias, and perhaps New Mexico. Now'"
sir, what are the facts which justify me in disbelieving the assertion of the President, when he says, that " the war has not been waged with a view to conquest?"'
Simultaneously with Mr. Slid el 's mission to Mexico, a naval squadron was ordered
to take position on the eastern and western coast of Texas, and General Taylor
was ordered to advance over the disputed territory, from Corpus Christi to Matamoras. War ensued, and directly a bearer" of despatches ''was sent in all possible
110.ste overland to the coast of California; and soon we hear of a" Proclamation •
from Commodore Stockton, the Governor of California,'' which begins as follows::
"I, Robert Stockton, commander-in-chief of the United States forces in the Pacific ocean, and GQ!l.eJnor of IM Territ0111 of California, and commander-in-chief of the anny of the same, do hereby make
known to all men, that having by right of conquest taken ,possession of that territory, known by the name
12
••
nf Upper and Lower California, I do now declare it to be a Te:-ritory of the United States, under the name
<(If the T erritory oi California."
He then proceeds to prescribe a constitution and form of government for the
said territory. And soon we see General Kearney, by order of the President,
marching over a vast :wilderness to New Mexico; overruning that department of the
Mexican Republic; deposing its civil officers; declaring tbem to be a part of the terri- tory of the United States; compelling ite officers and citizens to swear allegiance to
the same; declaring them citizens of tbe United States; denouncing the penalties of
treason against all who might therea.rter be found in arms against the United States,
and installing himself Governor. And more recent.ly, he, having occasion to leave
the territory, the mail brings us information of the following appointments which
he hns made of civil officers for the territory thus summarily conquered and anne.7:ed, under the authority of the President, viz: Charles Bent, to be Governm:;
Donaciano Vigil, to be Secretary of Territory; Richard Dallam, to be Marshall;
Francis P. Blair, United States District Attorney; Charles Plummer, to be
. Treasurer; Eugene Leitellfldorfer, to be Auditor of J?ublic Accounts; and Joab
Houghton, Antonio Jose Otero, and Charles Beaubien, to be Judges of the Superior Court. Given at Santa Fe, the Capital of the Territory of New Mexico,
this 22d of September, 1846, and in the 71st year of the independence of the
United Smtes. S. W. Kearney, Brig. Gen. U.S. A."
If conquest was not the object for which the President has waged this war, why
were these officers ordered lo New Mexico and the Californias? \Vhy these pro_clamations, declaring those regions to have IJecome, by the law of conquest, apart
of the territories of tlze United States? Why is it that General Wool and General
'Taylor have not been ordered to issue similar proclamations: and organize, in like
manner, civil governments in the territories which they have overrun with the armies of this Republic? Is it not because the President limits his present views of
conquest to New Mexico and the Californias? It is in vain for gentlemen to argue
that these steps have been taken as indispensable to the secure temporary possession of New Mexico and Califqrnia. If this were the only object, the reasons for
organizing civil government in the territories conquered by General Wool and
General Taylor are much stronger than in New Mexico and the Californias; for,
whilst these latter departments are sparsely inhabited, those portions of Mexico
which have been overrun by Generals Taylor and Wool are, in many parts, densely
inhabited, and are dotted over with populous towns and vill::iges. New M.exico
and the Californias were very remote from the United States, were sparsely inhabited, having no strong military posts which we could capture, or fortifications
for us to batter down. Why was our army and navy sent upon that expedition?
'To conquer a peace? To chastise Mexico for outrages perpetrated upon our citi·
zens? For these purposes they could have been far more effectively employed in
striking at the heart of Mexico, instead of its extremities. Conquest, conquest,
sir, stands out, in bold elief, as the object of the President in all these movements.
If any man yet doubts, let him peruse carefully a letter written by the Secretary
of War to Colonel Stephenson, of the California regiment, bearing date the 26th
· -0f June, 1846, and his doubts must vanish. It is as follows:
WAR DEPARTMENT, June 26, 1846.
Sm: The Presideat having determined to send a regiment of volunteers around Cape Horn to the
Pacific, to be employed in prosecuting hostilities to some province of Mexico, probably in Upper Cali• fornia, has authorized me to say, that if you will organize one on the conditions hereinafter specified
and tender its services, it would be accepted. It is proper it should be done with the consent of th~
Governor of New York. The President expects, and indeed requires, that great care should be taken.
.to have it composed of suitable persons-I mean of good habits-ns for as practicable of t>ario11s pursuits
'4nd smh as wwld be likely lo remain, Ill IJu BM l/f IJu war, either in OrsgOf\, or in any ol4e?· territory m lliat
;
13
t"egivn of the globe tchich may then be a part of the United States. _The act of th~ thirtee_nth of May las~ ~u­
thorizes the acceptance of volunteers for twelve months, or dunng the war w1t.h l'ylex1co. The c~nd1t10n
of the acceptance, in this case, must be a tender of service during the war ; and It must be exphc1tly understood that they may be discharged, without a claim for returning home, whe_rever they may be
serving at the termination of the war, provided it is in the THEN territory of the United State~, or may
be taken to the nearest or most convement territory belonging to the Unit.eel States, and there discharged.
The men must be apprised that their term of service is for the war;_ that they are to be d1scharg~d !Ul
above specified; and that they are to be employed on a •l1stant service. It is, lw!oet•et·, very ~e:nrable
that it should not be publicly known or proclaimed that they are to go to any particulai· plaee. On tlus pomt
great caution is enjoined.
.
.
The communication to the officers and men must go so far as to remove all JUSt grounds of complaint
that they have been deceived in thP. nature and the place of the service.
.
It is expected that the regiment will be in readiness to embark as early as the first of August Next, 1f
practicable. Steps will be immediately taken to p1ovide for transportation.
.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. L. MARCY, Secretary of Jfar.
Colonel J. D. STEYENSON, New York city.
From this it appears that the President had determined to conquer and annex
California, if that was practicable; and, if he failed iu this, to disgorge upon that
part of Mexico a kind of illegitimate colony, that would settle in the country, and
in due course of time rebel against Mexico, and finally petition for annexation.
All the circumstances of the President's conduct of this war go to prove, that
conquest was its motive, and that he intends conquest to be its end. My colleague,
(Mr. STANTON,) whose relation to the President, as I before remarked, enables
him, doubtless, to form correct opinions as to the objects of the Administration, in
his remarks a few days ago sai<l: .
"But I thought I saw, in the course of the debate yesterday, as well as in the insidious design of thereaolution, an incipient opoosition to that measure which is to be the great feature of the R,!ie-I mean
the annexation of the Cal:Cornias to this Government. The President's message asserts, and I assert,
that this war has not been commenced, that it is not carried qn, with a view to conquest. I desire this
to be distinctly understood. This is not a war of conquest. As for as my own feelings are concerned,
I do not wish to see this Government wrest from Mexico, by any unjust or unauthorized act, any portion of her territory. Yet who does not see, in the present C.lrcumstnnces, a state of things which must
inevitably lead to that result."
Thus are we informed, that the annexation of the Californias, by conquest, is
Not because the President desires it; not because my colleague desires it; not because the people desire it; nor yet because
Congress has sanctioned it; but because there is, in" the present circumstances, a
state ef things which rnust inevitably lead to that result." 'Vho, but the President of the Cnited States, created the state of things which imposes upon us this
result, which, according to my colleague, is inevitable? The President, in his
message, congratulates Congress upon the acquisition of territory greater in extent
than the original thirteen States of the Union. But the conquest and annexation
of this vast territory is not yet complete. 'l'o an u::mrper, an independent legislature is a very inconvenient thing; and a refractory Congress might, po~ibly, interpose some obstacles to the consummation of the President's grand scheme of
conquest aod annexation. But it is obvious that this difficulty has been foreseen,.
and that the President is armed with a resource against it. The honorable gentleman from lllinuis, (Mr. DouGLAss,) who, I suppose; may be justly reo-arded as
an accredited exponent of the views of the Administration, oraculurly a~nounced
to us a few days ago, that, by the law of nations, if the Government of the United
Stutes makes peace with Mexico, without specifying a boundary, all the territory
which may have been conquered by our arms will be in fact annexed to the United Stutes, and will forever constitute a part of its territory, unless reconquered or
ceded away by the United States. 'I'his, I suppose, is the plan of the President·
antl Congress will, as in the case of making war with Mexico, be called upon,
to be the great question of the age.
Ofl;
/
14
cf these days, not to annex the vast territories overrun by our armies, but to recog.nise their annexation. .These are the rapid strides which usurpation is making
.in this free Republic. Shall we tamely suhmit1 Will no body come to the
Tescue of the Constitution? On this side of the House we are in a minmity, .
and without aid we can effect nothing. I call upon gentlemen on the othet: side
of the House to throw off the shackles of party, and co-operate in vindicating the
outraged law. I call upon the Representatives of Virginia and South Carolina to
come to the rescue of the Constitution, and I beg to remind them, that the glory
·of those ancient commonwealths was not won by subserviency to power, but by
brave and patriotic resistance to its usurpations. Our fathers would have Deen astounded by the idea, that any President of the United States would have the te. merity and audacity to attempt such usurpations as those which the President evi.dently contemplates, and has partially consummated.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
The President has been rendered sensitive, l suppose, by the question: '"V\Tho
is James K: Polk?'' so often as~ed _when he was a candidate for the Presidency,
and he desll'es to c1:eate a sensat10n m th~ world; or, perhaps, envying Mr. Tyler
the glory of annexmg 'Texas to the United States, he strikes for the Californias
and New Mexico, that his administration may be signalized by an achievement
.equally glorious. Let Congress and the people sanction his usurpation, and he
will no doubt have imitators in the future. Every ambitious President will aim to
make his administration more brilliant than those of his predecm:sors, and the Republic will be continual.ly engaged i.n wars of conquest-wars of ambition and
aggrandizement; and with a vast nat10nal debt, and a people morally debauched
and ground into the dust .by ?ppress!v~ taxation, our Presidc~1ts will be Pr~sid~nts
no IonO'er, but despots 1 wrnldmg unlimited power; and our Un10n, our Const1tut10n
and liberty will perish forever. The executive power of this Government is vested
by the Constitution in the President? and although it makes h~m the cor~1mander­
in-chief of the army and navy, he is nevertheless but the chief executive officer
of the Government; and as the Constitution confers upon Congress the power to
declare war, the President: as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, has no
right to wage war for objects an~ purposes not co_ntemplated an.cl sanct.ioned by
Congress. Where does th~ President find a sanct10n of the natio~al will for bis
vast conquests and annexat10ns? '!'here has been no such expression of tbe national will, either by the representatives of the people, or by the people themselves.
'I'he President involved the nation in war, and has waged the war for purposes
not sanctione<l by the national will. In the origin and prosecution of the war, be
has' violated the spirit of the Constitutio.n .. It is the duty of. Con_gress, and l invoke the performance of .th at duty, to ~1m1t and control th_e d1scret10n of. the ~res­
ident in r~lation to the further prosecut10n of the war. If Con_gr~ss believes 1t to
be expedient and just to wage a war of conr1uest _for the .acqu1s1t.10n of t~rritory,
let that fact be declared; and if Congress believes it to be mexped1ent, let It assert
the constitutional right of the legislative branch of the Government, by saying to
the President "'Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." If Congress shall decide for a wa 1'. of conquest, though I may be individually opposed to it, all the
' .support in my power shall be given to my country; but I confess .that I could not
but entertain the belief, that my country had chosen a career which must lead to
disastrous results. . .
Mr. Chairman, I solemnly believe that t~e present Admrn1strati.on has already
brought upon this nation manifold evils, which can only be remedied by years of
15
patriotic effort and wise administration; and I believe that the President is now driving this Republic into a posilion fraught with so much of danger to our Union and
liberty, that he can never hope to be forgiven by the present or future ages, except by
the exercise of that principle qf charity which actuated our Savior, when he prayed
for those who crucified him: "Father, forgive them; they know not what they
do." There is not, I believe, mind and patriotism in the Administration to comprehend and appreciate the alarming dangers into which they are recklessly driving the Republic. It is moral cowardice, when the great interests of the Republic
are in peril, to shut our eyes, and shrink from a contemplation of the dangers with
which we are tbreatened. A learned and profound French author, in speculating
upon our institutions, remarks: "'l'he most formidable of all the evils which threaten the future existence of the Union arises from the presence of a black population
upon its territory; and in contemplating the causes of the present embarrassments,
or of the future dangers of the United States, the observer is invariably led lo consider this as a primary fact." Our experience conforms with the opinion of the
author from whom I have quoted. · 'l'he existence of slavery in a portion of the
States of this Union was a disturbing element in the convention which formed the
Constitutiop of the Ull'ited States, and a very great obstacl e to its formation. Fortunately, there were patriotiRm and wisdom sufficient to overcome the obstacle
then. When Missouri applied for admission into the Union, this difficulty again
presented itself, more formidably than before. It arrayed the nation in sectional
parties, which, with passions and prejudices violently inflamed, struggled for mastery, until the intensity and force of that struggle shook the Union to its deepest
foundations. At various periods of our history since that time, the same cause has
interrupted the fraternal feelings between the different sections of the Union, and
balefully disturbed the harmony of our legislation. The annexation of 'rexas to
the Union, which added a large territory to that section of the Union in which
.slavery exists, thereby changing the relative political strength of the slavehol<ling
and non-slaveholding States, has to a considerable extent requickened and revitalized this disturbing element. This fact was developed at the last session of Congress, when an honorable member from Pennsylvania (Mr. WILMOT)-the bill
appropriating two millions of dollars to enable the President to negotiate a treaty
with Mexico being under consideration-moved an amendment, which was adopted by the ~House , providing that slavery should never be permitted in any territory
whioh the United States might acquire from Mexico. He must be blin(t.to all the
signs of the times who does not perceive that there is a fixed and almost un~versal
determination in the northern States not to acquiesce in a further extension ofterritory, without attaching to such extension the prohibition to which l have referred. How shall we overcome this diiliculty, when the question shall come before
Congress perinanently to annex the conquests of tbe President? We have already
seen, by a -;ote of this House, that -the non-~lavebolding States will insist upon
prohibiting slavery in · those territories . Will the southern States consent to the
ac1 mission of free States south and west of Texas? ·what will Texas say? What
will Louisiana say? What will the whole South say? All the dangers growing
out of this question of slavery, which we have met and overcome heretofore, are
as nothing compared with those which will arise when that question shall come up
as the consequence of Mr. Polk's conquests and annexations.
Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, there are bad men in the North and the South,
who desire a dissolution of the Union, and who, without avowing their object, are
!aboring diligently to produce that end. r~he President ~s driving the ship of state
mto a most stormy and dangerous sea; and if Congress fails to act in the lofty spirit
•
16
0£ patriotism which the occasion demands---if it fails to assert the constitutional
rights and perform the constitutional duties which properly belong and attach to
the legislative branch of the Government, by putting a limit to executive discretion
in the further prosecution of this war with Mexico, jn my opinion the day is not
distant when it will require all the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism of the country to preserxe the Union, and save the public liberty.